Spiffy:

Iffy:

No online play for any platform; needs to reclaim the license after the last effort.

EA's Everything or Nothing was a resounding success for action gamers and fans of the venerable Bond game license. Sadly, the same can't be said for the last Bond effort from EA -- GoldenEye: Rogue Agent -- which for the most part failed to hit any kind of decent FPS stride at all. Returning now to the EoN third-person approach, I think it's safe to say that the new From Russia with Love will once again return EA's mega-franchise to its former glory with ease. Why? Mainly because none other than Sean Connery has agreed to lend his voice to the proceedings, and indeed, FRwL is one of the more revered classic movies in the series.

FRwL aims to take everything that made EoN special and excellent and take the action to even loftier heights. EA's producer on the title, Glenn Schofield, made note that the reason for choosing FRwL as the next title was because it was simply classic Bond at its best. Almost all aspects of the movie will be faithfully reflected or hinted at in the game, including the jetpack, the gorgeous Aston Martin motor, evil guys and hot chicks not withstanding. But it won't be limited to the movie plot, either. The dev team -- who were responsible for EoN and the rather excellent The Return of the King games -- are looking to add all kinds of extra content, weapons, gadgets, and locations to the proceedings, as well as a totally new ending.

If it sounds like a tall order, then it probably is. But Schofield was eager to point out that the team is working with a brand-new state-of-the-art engine which will go a long way to enable all of the new features to be implemented properly. At it's heart, FRwL is a high-octane third-person action affair mixing up the gameplay with outrageous cutscenes, driving and flying sections, and balls-to-the-wall shooting elements. This time around, players will have the option to customize Bond in order to make the experience feel unique. This includes the abilities to wear different outfits, acquire new and cool weapons and armor, and you'll even be able to upgrade certain elements of your character in a pseudo-RPG manner.

The new score rewards system acts almost like currency in the game and will be the impetus for the upgrades and such. I got to see a couple of the new locations in action, and everything was looking rather slick to say the least. The first location saw Bond advancing through an office scenario facing enemies dotted around taking cover. One of the new impressive gameplay mechanics is the new sharp-shooting mode. This allows bond to potentially be a smartass and take down multiple enemies in a suave manner using only a few bullets. For example, he can shoot a gas canister that might take out four or five baddies at once, but this is only made possible thanks to sharp shooter ability.

It really adds a sense of super-spy-ness to the character -- like he's the only one that could pull out such classy moves. The targeting for this new method lets you select specific locations on bodies, thus allowing you to plan how best to take down an enemy. Seeing it in action really proved that it'll be a big addition to the overall experience.